ICC tribunal bans Gazprom from placing gas dispute at Russian court

An International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal has prohibited Russia’s Gazprom  from continuing with Russian legal proceedings against CEZ, the Czech energy company said.

In a statement late on Thursday (23 May), CEZ said the ICC Tribunal granted a request confirming that disputes between the companies should be resolved in ICC arbitration, not in Russian courts.

In February 2023, CEZ sought compensation of around 1 billion crowns (€40 million) from Gazprom due to lower-than-contracted gas supplies in 2022, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom last month filed lawsuits against CEZ and others as it aimed to move court cases to Russia from international arbitration.

CEZ said in its statement that Gazprom was bound by an arbitration clause agreed with CEZ under which disputes related to gas supplies would be settled before the ICC. It had applied for an interim measure in this instance, which was given.

“The Tribunal granted our request, confirming that disputes between the companies should be resolved in ICC arbitration, not in front of Russian courts,” CEZ said.

Gazprom did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

On Wednesday, a Russian court ruling banned Austrian energy company OMV Gas Marketing and Trading GmbH from pursuing arbitration proceedings in Stockholm against Gazprom’s exporting arm.

The court threatened to fine OMV €575.2 million. OMV said it considered the Russian legal proceedings to be illegitimate.

The Czech Republic was nearly completely dependent on Russian gas supplies, mostly through the Nord Stream pipeline and Germany, until 2022 when Russia reduced shipments as relations with the West deteriorated sharply. It has replaced supplies with pipeline and LNG gas from other sources.

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